{"id":9551,"date":"2024-02-06T22:20:14","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T22:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historydefined.net\/?p=9551"},"modified":"2024-02-06T22:20:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T22:20:15","slug":"larry-hagman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.historydefined.net\/larry-hagman\/","title":{"rendered":"The Making of a Superstar: The Life and Time of Larry Hagman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the final scene of the final episode of the 1979\u201380 season of the phenomenally popular TV show Dallas, <\/em>arch-villain J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) hears a noise outside his office. He walks out to the hall to investigate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is then shot twice by an unseen assailant–and collapses to the floor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This episode was broadcast on March 21, 1980. The cliffhanger was titled \u201cA House Divided.\u201d It launched an eight-month waiting period for Dallas<\/em> fans to find out whether J.R. would survive the attack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viewers waited even longer to find out which of his many enemies were responsible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediately following the airing of \u201cA House Divided,\u201d and for the eight-month media frenzy that followed (during which bookmakers around the world set odds on J.R.’s possible assassins), Larry Hagman became one of the most recognized celebrities on the planet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was the most in-demand guest on TV talk shows around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The long-awaited, aptly-named episode \u201cWho Done it?\u201d finally aired on November 21. It was the fourth episode of the 1980-81 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It not only became the most-watched episode of the night, it holds the distinction of being the second-highest, most-watched TV episode in history. Second only to the final episode of MASH<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while Dallas<\/em> may have propelled Hagman to superstardom, it was not his first brush with TV fame. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seasons #1 and #4 of his highly popular sitcom I Dream of Jeannie<\/em> (aired from 1965 to 1970, and co-starring Barbara Eden), consistently placed in the top 30 of the Nielsen ratings. Hagman received an Emmy nomination in Season #4.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Larry Hagman publicity photograph, circa March 1973<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Early Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Larry Martin Hagman was born on September 21, 1931, in Fort Worth, Texas. His father was Benjamin Jackson Hagman (an accountant-turned-criminal-attorney). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His mother was a 17-year-old named Mary Marti. She would later become a renowned Broadway actress and musical comedy star. He grew up in near by Weatherford, Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly from the beginning, it was apparent to family and friends that Mary, having married so young, was not cut out for motherhood. Thus, it came as no surprise when in 1936 she and Benjamin divorced.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At five years of age, Hagman was sent to live with his maternal grandmother, Juanita Presley Martin, in Texas, while his mother pursued an acting career. This living arrangement created years of resentment from Hagman regarding his ever-absent mother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1940, Hagman’s mother met and married a mean-spirited alcoholic named Richard Halliday. A year later, Mary gave birth to a daughter, Heller\u2014whom Hagman came to adore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halliday treated Hagman cruelly, like an outsider. He effectively prevented mother and son from ever repairing their strained relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During the early years of his mother’s second marriage, Hagman was sent to the Black-Foxe Military Institute.<\/em> It was known for its strict regimentation. He then briefly went to the Woodstock Country School<\/em>, a boarding school in Vermont.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When his mother moved to New York City to pursue a Broadway stage career<\/a>, Hagman was again sent to live with his grandmother. This time in California.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few years later, however, his grandmother died. So Hagman was allowed to join his mother in New York City. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At age 15, Hagman moved back to his hometown of Weatherford and attended Weatherford High School. Although his father wanted him to become a lawyer and join his practice, Hagman was drawn to drama classes and the stage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from Weatherford High in 1949, Hagman made the decision to pursue a career in acting. He majored in dance and drama at Bard College in New York. But finding college not to his liking, he dropped out after just one year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A high school photograph of Larry Hagman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Natural-Born Actor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1950, Hagman began acting in Shakespearean productions<\/a>. They were produced by American-British theater actress, producer, and director Margaret Webster, at her school at the Woodstock Playhouse<\/em> in Woodstock, New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among his acting coaches was Nancy Marchand (later of Lou Grant <\/em>and Sopranos<\/em> fame). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the summer of 1950, Hagman worked in Dallas as a production assistant. He was given small roles in American stage director\/producer’s theater-in-the-round productions at Margo Jones’s theater company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He appeared in The Taming of the Shrew. <\/em>This was followed by numerous tent show musicals with St. John Terrell’s Music Circus<\/em> in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Lambertville, New Jersey.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1951, Hagman appeared in the London production of South Pacific<\/em> (as did his mother). He remained in the show for nearly a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1952, Hagman’s career was self-derailed (in a manner of speaking), when he received his draft notice and enlisted in the US Air Force. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was fortunate, however, to be stationed in London where he spent the majority of his military service entertaining US troops in the UK and on European bases. He was in charge of providing entertainment for some 60,000 men and their families.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once discharged from the Air Force in 1956, Hagman returned to New York City where he resumed his acting career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That year he appeared in the off-Broadway play, Once Around the Block<\/em>, written by Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winner William Saroyan. That was followed by nearly a year in another off-Broadway play, James Lee’s Career.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broadway and Television<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hagman’s Broadway acting debut occurred in 1958 in the Speed Lamkin production of, Comes a Day<\/em>. He played the role of Jim Culpepper; a role that got Hagman noticed by the acting community at large. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hagman went on to appear in four more Broadway plays<\/a>: God and Kate Murphy<\/em>, The Nervous Set<\/em>, The Warm Peninsula<\/em>, and The Beauty Part<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this budding period of his career, Hagman also appeared in numerous (mostly live) television programs including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n